Marist Dance Team Enters First Competition, Hopes For More

By Ashley Mahon
The Circle

Saturday, March 24 marked a new era for the Marist College Dance Team. The team, which had previously only performed at football and basketball games on campus, participated in their first intercollegiate contest at a dance competition in Westfield, Massachusetts.

The competition was hosted by the Universal Dance Association on the Westfield State University campus and had over twenty different schools participating. Junior team member and incoming captain Shannon Kozibroda, thought that the team did well overall.

"Since it was our first competition we didn't have high expectations so we were very happy with how we placed. Just the overall experience of competing was something new for the school and we hope that we can add more competitions into our schedule for next year," she said.

The team, which is comprised of sixteen girls from every grade level, functions as a club sport, like the cheerleading team, which puts them under the direction of both the Athletics Department and SGA.

Though the team does not have a coach, they are led by three captains that are elected after the previous season. The captains for next year were chosen last week and are comprised of juniors Meghann Pursell and Shannon Kozibroda, and sophomore Nicole Peto. All three said they look forward to the upcoming season and hope that it will be as successful as this year.

"The dance team has taken so many steps forward this season and I believe with the same amount of hard work and dedication, we will only continue to move forward next season," said Nicole Peto.